DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 7, 18-21 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 18 recites the limitation "the first portion" and "the second portion". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It will be assumed claim 18 was supposed to depend from claim 17 since that claim provides the basis for the components. Claims 19-20 are included since they depend from claim 18.
Claims 7 and 21 recite “the receiving portion”. Other claims specify “the cassette receiving portion”, so just reciting receiving portion makes it unclear as to what component is being referred to.
Claim 23 recites the limitation "the surface". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. There are no clues as to what this limitation could be.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 16 and 21-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Boucher et al (US 2021/0364722 A1). Boucher teaches:
16. A cassette receiving assembly (Figs. 1-9) configured to permit a fiber optic cassette (74) to be moved between a first position (Fig. 3A) and a second position (Fig. 3B) that provides enhanced access to the cassette (74) relative to the first position (Fig. 3A) (P0021), comprising:
a mounting portion (20, 22, 24, 54);
a cassette receiving portion (30, 32) structurally configured to receive a fiber optic cassette (74) and to be pivotally coupled with the mounting portion (20, 22, 24, 54) (P0022);
wherein the cassette receiving portion (30, 32) includes an engagement portion (98) that is configured to be coupled with a coupling portion (162) of the mounting portion (20, 22, 24, 54);
wherein the coupling portion (162) is configured to permit the engagement portion (98) to be inserted into and removed from the coupling portion (162) (P0030);
wherein the coupling portion (162 along with 76) is structurally configured to limit a range of rotational movement of the engagement portion (98) relative to the coupling portion (162) so as to limit a range of pivoting movement between the cassette receiving portion (30, 32) and the mounting portion (20, 22, 24, 54) between a first, stowed position (Fig. 3A) and a second, extended position (Fig. 3B) (P0021, 0030) that is configured to provide enhanced access to the cassette relative to the first, stowed position (P0027).
21. The cassette receiving assembly of claim 16, wherein the receiving portion (30, 32) includes a wall portion (main body portion) having a notched portion (see Fig. 4A, showing the notch that surrounds 98, forming the area the engagement portion resides in) that is configured to receive the engagement portion (98).
22. The cassette receiving assembly of claim 16, wherein the cassette receiving portion (30, 32) includes a pair of guide portions (the bodies of 30 and 32) positioned opposite one another in a mirrored relationship (see Fig. 4A) and interconnected by a support portion (34);
wherein the guide portions (the bodies of 30 and 32) each include an outer surface portion facing away from one another (see Fig. 4A), and a first end (both ends) of each of the guide portions includes the engagement portion (98).
23. The cassette receiving assembly of claim 16, wherein the mounting portion (20, 22, 24, 54) comprises a first mounting portion (20) and a second mounting portion (22);
wherein the cassette receiving portion (30, 32) is configured to be pivotally coupled with and between the first mounting portion (20) and the second mounting portion (22); and
wherein each of the first and second mounting portions (20, 22) includes an attachment portion (164) configured to be attached to the surface (bodies of 20, 22) and a receiving portion (164) configured to receive the cassette receiving portion (30, 32) (P0030).
24. The cassette receiving assembly of claim 23, wherein the coupling portion (162) comprises a first coupling portion (one in 20) and a second coupling portion (one in 22);
wherein the engagement portion (98) including a first engagement portion (one in 30) and a second engagement portion (one in 32); and
wherein the first engagement portion (98 in 30) is configured to be coupled with the first coupling portion (162 of 20) of the first mounting portion and the second engagement portion (98 in 32) is configured to be coupled with the second coupling portion (162 of 22) of the second mounting portion (see Fig. 3B).
25. An enclosure (Fig. 2) for receiving a fiber optic cassette (74) comprising:
the cassette receiving assembly of claim 16;
a housing (12) comprising a cassette receiving space (24); and
wherein the cassette receiving assembly is configured to be mounted in the housing (12) (see Fig. 3A).
26. The enclosure of claim 25, wherein the cassette receiving space (24) is defined by a rear wall (14), a top wall (20), a bottom wall (22) opposite the top wall (20), and a pair of opposed sidewalls (16, 18) positioned between the top wall (20) and the bottom wall (22); and
wherein respective forwards edges of the top wall (20), the bottom wall (22), and the sidewalls (16, 18) are configured to define an opening to the cassette receiving space (24) opposite the rear wall (14) (see Fig. 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-15 are allowed (claim 7 has a 112 rejected that would need to be overcome).
Claims 17-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims (note, for antecedent basis it was assumed claim 18 should depend from claim 17).
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
These claims would be allowable over the prior art of record or if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims because the latter, either alone or in combination, does not disclose nor render obvious a cassette receiving assembly configured to permit a fiber optic cassette to be moved between a first position and a second position, comprising:
a mounting portion;
a cassette receiving portion structurally configured to receive a fiber optic cassette and to be pivotally coupled with the mounting portion;
wherein the cassette receiving portion includes an engagement portion that is configured to be coupled with a coupling portion of the mounting portion;
wherein the coupling portion is configured to permit the engagement portion to be inserted into and removed from the coupling portion;
wherein the coupling portion is structurally configured so as to limit a range of pivoting movement between the cassette receiving portion and the mounting portion between a first, stowed position and a second, extended position that is configured to provide enhanced access to the cassette relative to the first, stowed position,
wherein the coupling portion includes a first portion fixedly coupled with the mounting portion and a second portion that extends from the first portion and wherein the second portion is configured to flex so as to permit the engagement portion to be inserted into and removed from the coupling portion,
in combination with the rest of the claimed limitations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references teach cassette receiving assemblies with different configurations of movement for accessing and storing the cassette: US 5402515, US 5421532, US 6263141, US 6282360, US 6360050, US 6850685, US 7236677, US 9038832, US 2016/0223770, US 9823432, US 10025055, US 10209470, US 10254496, US 11592640, US 2025/0231364, US 12468106.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN A LEPISTO whose telephone number is (571)272-1946. The examiner can normally be reached on 8AM-5PM EST M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hollweg can be reached on 571-270-1739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RYAN A LEPISTO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874